Soul Man Eli Paperboy Reed Releases Swamp Dogg‑Produced “Like We Used To”

photo credit: Stefan Meekers/Keys and Chords

​Soul Man Eli Paperboy Reed Releases Swamp Dogg‑Produced “Like We Used To”
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​Mojo once hailed Eli Paperboy Reed as “the king of rhythm & soul,” and his journey backs it up. The Brookline, MA native cut his teeth in Clarksdale, MS as a teenager, soaking up the juke‑joint grit of the Delta before heading to Chicago in his early twenties to play alongside gospel legend Mitty Collier. By the time he returned to Boston, Reed was already turning heads. A run of acclaimed albums followed, earning praise from NPR who called his music “inspired, raw and powerful” and Uncut, which celebrated its “urgent, electric energy.” Major‑label deals, global festival slots, and countless film and TV placements cemented Reed as one of modern soul’s most consistent and compelling voices.

With his new album Getting There, Reed leans into a different kind of soul—one shaped by experience, commitment, and the long haul of love. Produced by R&B iconoclast Swamp Dogg, the record is a vibrant blend of timeless soul and roots music, but also a deeply mature reflection on what it means to stay in love, not just fall into it. Reed threads together soul, gospel, R&B, folk, country, and rock and roll, crafting an ode to the everyday endurance that keeps relationships alive long after the fireworks fade.

Speaking about one of the album’s tracks, Reed explains: “This song has been kicking around for a minute, but it began to hit different for me as I entered the second decade of my marriage… When work, school, childcare, doctor’s appointments and all the rest keep getting in the way, you have to remember the spark that started it all.” He recalls racing from Boston to Brooklyn at age 23 because “a certain someone requested my presence,” adding, “With all that’s changed between then and now, that certain someone is still the same and so am I… sometimes it just takes a reminder.”

“This is grown folks music,” Reed says. “I’m not 25 anymore, and I don’t want to make records that sound like I am. I want to make music that’s reflective not just of where I’ve been, but where I’m at right now.”

Reed had long admired Swamp Dogg’s singular catalog as a producer, songwriter, and artist, and the respect was mutual. The two bonded instantly, sharing stages over the years and always closing with a duet on Swamp Dogg’s classic “Mama’s Baby, Daddy’s Maybe.” When Reed assembled this new batch of songs, Swamp Dogg was the first person he thought of. “If anybody knows how to make grown folks music how to weave all these genres together, how to be serious but also tongue in cheek at the same time it’s Swamp Dogg.”

After pre‑production sessions in LA, where they bonded over everything from ’50s vocal groups to ’90s country, Reed and his band headed to Restoration Sound in Bushwick. They tracked most of the album live in just ten days. “Sometimes we’d get ahead of ourselves,” Reed says. “Swamp would pull things back and get us to chill out and let the song play itself.” Reed handled much of the keyboard work, but Swamp Dogg joined in on piano too. “He’d ease us into this perfect, lazy pocket every time.”

“We’re always ‘getting there,’ right?” Reed reflects. “Even when you’ve got a family and kids or whatever the ‘goal’ was the race isn’t run and it won’t ever be.”

Maybe it’s experience. Maybe it’s maturity. For Eli Paperboy Reed, it’s simply grown folks music.
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Website:
elipaperboyreed.com

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